Draco's Reflection
by feltongurl
Summary: Draco sees himself in the mirror of Erised, but does not like what he sees. Ginny helps him, and they end up helping each other. Chap 2 now up!
1. The very long beginning

Draco's Reflection

FeltongurlÜ

Draco couldn't sleep. 

The shrill night air made goosebumps rise on his pale skin, for the fire had gone out. The black velvet curtains didn't do much to separate Crabbe and Draco's beds, either. Crabbe's snores were definitely not lullabies. 

Draco's stomach rumbled, a perfect addition to the night symphony. The stew he had eaten for dinner seemed ages ago. His mouth watered as he thought of the pork pie, stacked away in the pantry, right across the everlasting fire in the common room upstairs.

The common room. Heat, food and solitude. 

The boy shivered slightly as he drew on his night robes and padded out of the room barefoot. He braved the cold stone staircase, cursing himself for not bothering to wear slippers. The fire greeted him, and he eagerly stepped towards the pantry. Opening the tall oak doors, he took out the pie. 

He was about to turn around and sit on one of the high-backed chairs, but he heard the stone wall that concealed the entrance slide open with a grinding sound. 

Draco hastily shoved the pork pie back inside the shelf, closed the doors and ducked behind a stone gargoyle. He didn't look exactly presentable at the moment. His green velvet robes hung loosely from his angular shoulders, the shimmering velvet giving his thin body an almost unearthly glow in the gloom. His hair was tousled in the absence of his hair care potion. Furthermore, no one ever had ever caught him sneaking out at night for a snack, in the likeness of a scavenger. 

Dumbledore stepped in the common room, dragging a tall mirror. He looked around, then pulled the mirror in farther. Draco curiously peeked out to see more. Dumbledore caught sight of him in the reflection and smiled, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Young Malfoy. Would you kindly help me with this mirror?"

Draco flattened his blond hair down and walked to the Headmaster. "What's this, sir?" 

Dumbledore peered at the young boy through his half-moon spectacles before moving it to a large grandfather clock in the corner. "This, Draco, is the Mirror of Erised. A most interesting looking-glass indeed."

The old man stepped in front of the clock, and, to Draco's amazement, it moved aside, revealing a small chamber. "Best not to mention this to anyone, young man."

The Slytherin couldn't hide his curiosity. "Why, sir?"

"Many have wasted away in front of this. Others who did not take my advice went mad in front of it. You will see why, in time…" he gestured to the mirror, which had now been moved inside the dark room. Draco was too far away to see his reflection. All he saw was a blurry image of himself, dressed in his usual flowing robes. 

Dumbledore turned to leave. "Good night." 

Draco ignored the headmaster's departure and looked interestedly at the mirror. 

It was very tall and Draco could see some letters, arranged at the top. He looked at his reflection and gasped. 

It was Draco himself…but he was crying…and smiling. 

He was disgusted. What kind of mirror was this, anyway? Stupid mirror. Crazy mirror. 

The grandfather clock behind him chimed midnight, shking the stone floor. He backed out of the room and strode back down to the dungeons, midnight snack and everything else forgotten. Nevertheless, the mirror still interested him, and he decided to go back the next night. 

Ginny Weasley sighed as she scanned her roll of parchment. Loads of homework to do over the Christmas break…mostly Potions. Didn't Snape ever have pity on his students? 

Ron, Harry and Hermione sat down on the seats next to her. Harry chose the one across her, and Ron and Hermione grinned at each other. Harry suddenly had a habit of trying to be with her. It was like vice versa of three years ago, in Harry's second year and Ginny's first. Unfortunately, Ginny didn't have her eyes on Harry anymore. She was still close to him as a friend, and they had gone out together, but she liked…someone else. 

She didn't dare say his name out loud in front of Harry. She wanted to kick herself for ever liking him. 

"What's that, Ginny?" Hermione leaned over Ron's shoulder to see Ginny's roll of parchment. "Oh. As usual, Snape gives the most homework." She rolled her eyes. "I had quite a bit of effort on this topic last year. You need to distinguish each potion? Best you start now."

Ron groaned. "That one, Ginny? I hate that stupid lesson! Harry though, got some time off. _Triwizard champion_!" Harry remained silent. Ginny guessed he was still thinking about Diggory. 

Harry suddenly grinned mischievously and turned to her. "Tell you what. Borrow my Invisibility Cloak.Go down to Snape's shop tonight. You know the potion bottles he has? They've got labels on them. And I know for a fact that he uses them in his tests." Ginny lightened up.

For some reason Ginny didn't know, the trio grinned at each other.

"Remember second year? Hermione went to Snape's shop while you blew those fireworks to distract that old git? Remember what happened to Malfoy's nose?" Ron guffawed. The three best friends burst into laughter. 

Ginny smiled at Harry. "Thanks, Harry. But I really have to go now…Charms." She stood up and walked out of the hall, trying not to think about what Ron had said last.

_What about his nose?_

Draco woke up in the middle of the night that day. _Perfect_. He guaranteed no one would be in the common room at this time of night. He felt less cold than the night before; he had drawn his robes tightly around him. He raced up to the common room. 

He crossed the common room and the grandfather clock slid aside as he entered the small chamber. He studied the mirror.

It was made of dark brown oak wood, and the letters at the top seemed to be carved. As he scrutinized them, he heard a noise behind him. He cautiously looked around.

Someone was coming. 

Ginny wrapped the Invisibility Cloak tightly around her and nervously walked down the stone staircase to Snape's dungeons. It seemed thrice as scary as it was during the day, and the shadows gave it an even gloomier appearance. 

She slipped inside Snape's private shop, careful not to hit the bottles lined along his shelves. The redhead studied the labels on them, and she sighed as she realized what she hadn't studied yet wasn't here. She noticed a door behind one of the shelves. It looked like it led to a back room where Snape probably kept all his other potions. She inched toward it and pulled it open. 

This place was definitely not a back room. She was standing in a stone room, dimly lit by a fire. A tall grandfather clock stood in the shadows. As she walked nearer, it slid aside and a mirror came into sight, hidden in a dark corner and there was a boy standing beside it. 

A boy with silvery blond hair and dark green velvet robes. 

He whirled around apprehensively. "Who's there?" 

Malfoy, with tousled hair and velvet night robes. Ginny's heart skipped a beat. 

"Who's there?" the Slytherin said. Ginny remembered she was wearing the cloak. She timidly let the top part uncover her face. 

Draco let out a gasp. "Weasley…what the-? What are you doing here? And bloody hell… Where's the rest of your body?!"

"I'm wearing Harry's cloak." Ginny threw the cloak off. 

He heaved a sigh of relief. "Thought you were like Potter…way back in third year, Hogsmeade, but no matter. What are you doing here?" Ginny sighed herself, relieved that he hadn't said anything negative about her. 

"Got lost…Snape's shop. She stepped closer doubtfully. "You won't tell him, will you?"

He smiled spitefully. "That old git? I'm only forced by my father to respect him. I don't do it by my own free will." 

She ignored him and walked over to the Mirror. "Whoa…"

"Oh, this. Dumbledore just said it was the Mirror of, of…I forgot. Oh anyway, it starts with an e. Erumped? Nah…" He walked over to it and winced. "I look like an idiot."

Ginny, however, had a different reaction when she saw herself. "What! That's me, and…" 

"Duh, it's you. Who did you expect? Potter?" Draco sat down on one of the high-backed chairs. "You still have your eyes on him?" 

"No." Ginny blushed. "What's this mirror do? Show us the future?" 

"Hope not!" Draco rolled his eyes. "It says something I don't quite understand." Draco stood up and walked over. The letters on the top, as the pair read them, seemed to arrange themselves into words. 

I show not your face but your heart's desire

"So this is the Mirror of Erised!" Ginny walked around it, interested. 

"You-you know about this? And dammit. Is this what it means? _This _is my heart's desire? To look like a complete lunatic. Ugh." He kicked the mirror. "Some mirror." 

Ginny was silent, looking at the Mirror in awe. Draco looked at her. "What do you see?"

"I'm not telling. " She turned away from him and walked out of the room, pulling on the cloak. "I'm going back."

"Ginny! Where are you?" he called after her. Even if she were still around, he wouldn't be able to see her. He gave the mirror one last look, cringed in disgust, and walked back down to his room as the grandfather clock moved aside to let him out. 

From the other side of the common room, Ginny Weasley watched the scene, tears rolling down her cheeks. 

When Draco emerged from his room the next night, he already saw that Ginny was seated in front of the Mirror. 

She looked up as soon as he walked in. "Oh…it's you." 

He dragged one of the high-backed chairs to a spot beside her and sat down. "Here again? I daresay it's Potter in there, is it?"

She shot him a withering look. "No, it's not." 

"Okay then…it's loads of money. Nah…Ron would do for that sort of thing, not you." 

She stood up, blushing and angry, and Draco shrank back in his seat "You've had it, you jerk. For your information, it's not money, and it's not Harry I see in the mirror."

Draco seemed taken aback. 'I'm sorry…I didn't mean it that way. I take it all back. So what do you see?"

"Not telling, not until I see you're worth telling and not until you tell me yours."

"No." 

The two were just there, staring at each other forming a picture of a small young weasel just about ready to pounce on a wary, tired, old snake. Then Draco spoke.

"Until I'm worth telling? Do you take your reflection so high even I can't meet its standards?" 

Ginny had now sat down glaring at him. "I hate to say this, but that's a yes."

Draco was highly affronted. "So it's true then, _Potter_'s in the damn mirror. You think him so high, do you?"

"_It's not Harry!" _

Draco ignored her and continued. "Speaking of which, what do you think he'd see here?" 

Ginny looked down. "He's seen it, and I know what he saw." 

The boy leaned forward. "What did he see?" 

Ginny looked at him angrily. "I'm not telling. You'll just laugh."

"What? He saw you?" Draco laughed spitefully.

"No, he saw his mum and dad."

Draco was silent, an unpleasant feeling of guilt stirring into his soul. He didn't quite expect guilt, of all emotions. He suddenly felt very small in the gloom. 

Ginny heaved a sigh of relief that Draco hadn't made any snide remark. Unfortunately, Draco heard her sigh, and suspected exactly what Ginny was thinking. 

"What? I'm not that bad, you know, to laugh because all a guy wants to see are his parents. I'd feel that way even, maybe."

"I knew that.", Ginny was taken aback, too. Neither one looked at the other "I'm sorry." 

Draco didn't quite hear her. Instead, he stood up and walked out of the chamber and down the stairs, muttering "Good night."

He lay awake for a long time, thinking about Harry and Ginny. He was unaware of Crabbe's snoring, or Goyle's pig-like grunts in the next bed. And that Saturday morning he was still lying on his bed. It was a long time before he went to sleep, and by the time he woke up again, the students were gathered in the Great Hall for lunch. 

He walked inside the Hall, sat down next to Crabbe and Goyle and started on his lunch.

"Where've you been?" Crabbe grunted. 

"Yeah, Quidditch matches are in the afternoon. You missed training, and I substituted for you." Goyle seemed extremely proud of himself.

"Dammit!" Draco snapped, spitting out his steak. "I forgot! Quidditch!" Suddenly he stopped. Today's game was Slytherin versus _Gryffindor._ His meeting with Ginny flashed back into his mind. Potter. He would have to play against Potter. 

Harry mounted his broom, getting ready for the Quidditch match. He wasn't nervous at all; he and his team had trained hard that morning. Behind him he could hear Ron growling under his breath. He knew his best friend was eager to play, because it was his first match. He'd taken the place of his one of his brothers as Beater on the team, and he was desperate to beat Malfoy.

Malfoy. Harry's eyes traveled to the locker room on the other side. Draco was in front, behind him the rest of the Slytherin team mounted their brooms, too. 

The whistle blew and the two teams flew up. Harry took the highest spot in the sky, high above the bleachers. He heard the whirring of the Snitch as it was released, and it faded away. Then the Quaffle was released and the game began.

Harry looked down to see how Ron and the rest of his team were doing. He grinned as Ron hit a Bludger towards Blaise, who, he heard, was a new addition to the Slytherin team. _Desperate times call for desperate measures, _he thought, as Zabini swerved away from it, not bothering to hit it with his club. 

Draco, meanwhile, wasn't in the mood to play. He searched the sky for Harry. He knew he always stayed there. Sure enough, the pitiful Potter was up there, almost a scarlet speck in the blue sky.

A tinge of that guilt pierced him again. He shouldn't have been thinking about Harry that way. Suddenly Blaise shouted out frantically from behind him.

"Snitch, Malfoy! Up there!" 

Draco raced upwards, all pity forgotten. Harry, looking down at his team, hadn't seen the Snitch but now he looked up in confusion as Malfoy sped past him. Harry saw the Snitch and raced towards it, too. 

Draco was gaining on it, his fingertips inches away from the walnut-sized ball. Suddenly he was thrown out of balance. Harry had pushed him aside, and they were battling, shoulder against shoulder. 

Ron, in the meantime, watched the blond Slytherin race around the stadium in pursuit of the Snitch. He put on a spurt of speed upwards, too, and hit a Bludger towards Draco. He grinned in satisfaction, when something made him gasp in horror. 

Harry was in its way. 

He knocked Malfoy out of balance, face contorted in concentration. Neither of the two Seekers and team captains saw the Bludger. Ron and Hermione, who was watching the game from her Omnioculars, saw the whole thing happen as if in slow motion (Hermione's, literally.)

Draco heard a funny whistling sound and looked to his left, over Harry's shoulder. It took his mind, which was absorbed in catching the Snitch, some time before he realized it was a Bludger. Too late for two things. He had forgotten the speed of Harry's broom compared to his. And besides, Ron's Bludger had done its job. 

"Malfoy? You okay?" Draco couldn't see very well out of his black eye. Harry was holding the Snitch, but looked mildly concerned as he saw Draco. 

Draco didn't get to see what else happened after that. He was led to the hospital wing, the crowd cheering for Gryffindor outside. 

"Draco,"

The boy looked up from where he sat in front of the Mirror. Ginny had entered the room.

"You're here again. Why am I not surprised?" 

Ginny sat down on the other chair Draco had dragged in earlier. "Nice game today. You really seem to be taking it well."

"Not when you get a black eye and your enemy wins. " Draco laughed. 

"Madam Pomfrey did a good job on you. You can hardly tell you ever had a black eye." Then Ginny sobered. "Did you do it on purpose? I mean, help Harry and all?"

"No. I have to admit, though, he does have good reflexes. Nice boyfriend you've got."

"He's not my boyfriend!" 

Draco, once again, ignored her and gazed into the mirror, obviously revolted by what he was seeing. Ginny unsuccessfully tried to see his reflection. "What _do _you see in there?"

"What, are you going to tell me what you see, finally?" Draco countered. "It _must_ be Potter.No wonder you keep coming back here. But aren't you missing something, Ginny? _He's in your house,_ right in the Gryffindor Tower. No need to keep staying here."

Ginny rolled her eyes crossed her arms. "Don't think I'm telling you just now, even though you did a good deed today. For…Harry."

Something in Draco's eyes made Ginny feel uneasy. His eyes were no longer hard and cold, they were like shiny black pools of water. In them Ginny saw deep anger, and at the same time…hurt. 

"Stop it! I'm not that controversial!" Draco had regained his haughty self, but instead of looking intimidating, he looked…wounded. There was no other word for it. "Good deed, as if I've never done one before…"

There was an awkward silence between the pair. 

"Draco, I'm sorry." Ginny whispered.

Draco laughed, a warm chuckle that made Ginny feel forgiven. "Right. I'm really an angel inside, you know. Compassionate, kind, thoughful."

Ginny snorted with laughter, in a manner that would have made Draco's proper mother turn in her grave if she were dead. "And I, Ginny Weasley, may look like an angel, but am not. I break boy's hearts and well…am an angel in disguise. Haha, Draco. How true."

Draco was silent for a moment. He seemed to be debating with himself about something, then he spoke softly.

"Yes…I do have to admit, after all my squabbling. You seem to be getting farther and farther from…Potter. I mean, Harry."

Ginny avoided his gaze, apprehensive, yet a teeny bit hopeful. Draco closed his eyes, deciding whether to continue. "And I don't think you're just an angel in disguise. You're really an angel.

"And errr…" Draco cupped his chin in his hands. For a while, Ginny looked at him, trying to see his face. His silvery blond hair covered it, which, Ginny had just noticed, even in her confusion, wasn't combed back. Absentmindedly, she decided she liked his hair better that way.

"I have to go." Draco said awkwardly. "Bed…" he stood up, and Ginny saw his face, flushed and embarrassed. "Good night."

He walked across the tiny room and the grandfather clock moved aside as he strode out of it. Ginny rushed forward and grabbed his arm. 

They looked into each other's eyes for some time, Ginny's hazel eyes against Draco's gray ones. Ginny tore her gaze away from Draco's. "I feel the same way about…you…too." 

If the Gryffindor had been looking into his eyes, she would have seen them light up with surprise. Before she knew it. Draco pressed his lips against hers. His arms went around her, and it seemed that they would never break apart. Suddenly the clock chimed midnight, and the two parted ways. 

Ginny smiled at Draco at breakfast the next day. He smiled back and took his place at the Slytherin table.

Harry grinned at Ginny as she sat down. "Did the potion thing work?" 

"Yes…worked well…" she replied absentmindedly. 

"Draco seemed especially nice yesterday, wasn't he?" Harry said, trying to make conversation. 

"Draco?" Ginny looked up from her toast and smiled at him. "Yes, very." 

Meanwhile, from the other table, the blond Slytherin watched it all. He smiled to himself. 

Ginny waved at Draco as the Hogwarts train chugged out of the Hogsmeade station. Her waving hand became just a wisp in the red train as it sped away. He sighed as it disappeared from sight. No Ginny would keep him company during those long, cold nights in front of the mirror for Christmas now. Suddenly he heard a voice behind him. 

"Ginny told me, Malfoy. I know everything." Harry said in a manner that Draco didn't quite understand. 

Draco backed away. "I can't imagine myself actually backing away from _you_, Potter. But I shouldn't be. I'm ready to go to Ginny's defense." 

Harry snorted. "You sound so old-timey. Ginny's defense…you crack me up. I know. And I'm not mad."

Draco's eyes lit up. "You're not?"

"No. It's up to Ginny, anyway. And I owe you one for that last Quidditch match."

Draco and Harry walked back to the castle. "What's it with everyone on the match? That was about a week ago."

"Well, _Draco_, it _was_ you, Draco Malfoy, who helped Potter, the dysfunctional orphaned spaz, Harry Potter out and lost. doing so." Harry grinned at him. "And that's something I'd like to make a truce on."

The two boys faced each other by the lake. "What is it, Potter? I mean, Harry?"

"No matter what happens, we're on good terms, okay?"

Draco shook Harry's hand without flinching. "Look who's not old-timey. No matter what happens, my foot." 

The two boys talked all the way to the castle. 

Draco sadly leaned back in his chair on Christmas Eve. His reflection was in front of him, imprisoned in the mirror, yet he didn't cringe anymore. He was used to what he saw. 

He felt around in the darkness of the chamber for Ginny, even though he knew she wasn't there. He missed her, especially at this time of night. 

Suddenly Draco gave a start. He had never missed anybody before, what more someone his father despised. He didn't care about that, it was just startling, the fact that he missed someone.

He was just drifting off to sleep, his head on the back of the chair. Suddenly he felt a hand shaking him.

"Draco, wake up! It's me! I'm back!" he groggily opened his eyes and saw Ginny, beaming down at him. His drawn face suddenly lit up.

He stood up and took her hand in his. "But what the-? How did you get back here? The train doesn't come back here on _Christmas Eve,_ for heaven's sake."

She sat down. "I arrived this afternoon. Ron and the others were at Quidditch practice with you, Colin said. I can't believe it! Quidditch practice with the Slytherins?"

Draco grinned mischievously. "Harry and I made up just after your train left. We reckon it would do you some good!" 

"That's lovely! I mean…I missed you so much so I came back here…Mum and Dad weren't too happy, but Bill was just proud enough to drive me to the station with his new car- he bewitched it, too!"

Draco laughed. "You sound like a huswife! I missed you, too." He kissed her. It just didn't seem right, the two of them, together, silhouetted against the light of a fire. But neither of them seemed to care, and it was a long time until they let go. 

"Where's the mistletoe?" Ginny whispered, smiling. 

Draco carelessly pointed his wand at the ceiling. The mistletoe hung loosely before dropping down beside the Mirror. Ginny giggled, and sat down. Draco dragged a chair in to sit beside her. 

"I'm ready to tell you my reflection, now." Ginny said shyly. 

"Oh…I'd forgotten all about that." Draco replied, running a hand through his hair to comb it back.

"Stop it! I like your hair better that way." Ginny said, and continued. "Do you remember what I said about my reflection being too high for you? That was true." She paused, waiting for a reaction. Hearing none, she continued. 

"It's you I see in the Mirror, Draco." 

"You see…me?"

Ginny smiled. "You're smiling, like you're happy. Not the smile I usually see when you insult someone. You're just…happy. And we're together.

"That's what I meant about my reflection being too high. I always liked you. I always knew you were better inside. And…" Ginny's voice trailed off. 

Draco was silent. Here was someone who actually cared for him. It reminded him of what he was thinking about just moments ago, when he was lonely. He felt so new, so strange then. No one hsd ever appreciated him before. 

"Ginny, tell me…" Draco said in a barely audible voice. "What does it feel to have someone lvoe you?" 

Ginny was surprised. "It feels like…home. I mean…like the way my mum and dad love me…" she stammered. 

"They love you? But what do they give you to show?" Draco felt silly, asking such a question. He hoped Ginny wouldn't get hurt. 

"They don't have to give me anything. I'm just happy they…love me." Ginny stopped. "Sorry, but that's all I can say."

Draco felt tears welling up in his eyes. He looked down, hoping she wouldn't see them. 

"Draco?" Ginny looked at him. "What's wrong?"

ta bay canteanuahd!ÜM

****


	2. The End, yet a new beginning

"What?" he replied, a little too brightly. "I'm fine."  
  
Ginny sighed and leaned back in her chair. "If you say so." It was a peaceful night. She imagined the rest of her family at home, singing Christmas carols by the fire over mugs of hot chocolate. She turned to the fireplace in front of them, the only source of warmth and heat in the room.  
  
"If I were home," she said dreamily. "I'd be with the folks by the fireplace, singing Christmas carols." She began to sing.  
  
"Silent night. holy night. all is calm. all is bright."  
  
Draco was facing the fire, too, his head lolling on his left shoulder.  
  
"Draco, are you awake?" Ginny nudged him.  
  
His eyes flew open, and a teardrop, silver in the dimness, rolled down his pale cheek.  
  
Ginny gasped. "Wha-? Why?"  
  
He hastily wiped it away with the back of his hand. "Nothing, really! Uh-"  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes. "It's never nothing, you prat." Despite his tears, the Slytherin smiled.  
  
Her gaze fell on the Mirror of Erised. Someone in it caught her eye. It was Draco and he looked exactly the same as he looked now.  
  
"You look exactly like your reflection!" She exclaimed, pointing. Draco whirled around to see.  
  
"How can you see?!" He asked softly, wiping away another tear and suppressing a sob. "I thought you can't see someone else's reflection."  
  
"What's wrong?" Ginny pressed, standing up. He shook his head.  
  
Ginny hugged him tightly. Draco sighed as he sank into the embrace of the only person he had ever loved and who had loved him back. It felt so good to know that, but soon reality hit him in the face, that he had been so mean to her in the past, and he pulled away.  
  
They stood in front of the mirror and surprisingly, it was no longer just Draco standing there. Ginny was there, smiling up at him.  
  
Draco stroked the wood of the back of the mirror, his fingers falling upon an inscription at the back. He knelt down to read.  
  
The deepest desire, once fully lived out  
  
No longer lies concealed.  
  
The long sought for desire  
  
Now stands to all, revealed.  
  
The grandfather clock chimed twelve. Ginny got up from her kneeling position on the floor, tears gathering in her own eyes. Draco stood there, not knowing what to say.  
  
"So I guess this is goodnight." He whispered.  
  
Ginny nodded wordlessly. "I guess."  
  
She walked past him, across the little room, across the stone floor, stoping at the place where she had entered many nights, for Draco. She didn't know it then, that she was the very first person to ever love him. She felt a kind of pride in her, and pity that his parents had never taught him. Love. Worlds.  
  
Draco had followed her. She smiled up at him, and they looked exactly the same as their reflection in the mirror. Their lips met for one last kiss.  
  
"Goodnight Ginny,"  
  
"Goodnight, Draco," 


End file.
